Ezria: A Year In The Life
by nightmares.and.dreamers
Summary: This will be a multi-part story, taking you through the first year of Aria and Ezra's relationship, starting with their first meeting. Rated M for sexual themes and language.


**Ezria: A Year In The Life**

 **Author's Note:**

Hi everyone! It has been a while and my old stories have since been deleted, but hopefully you guys are still interested in Ezria and want to read! Special thanks to TheHelloItsMe for being my friend for almost 8 years and for always believing in me.

 **Disclaimer:**

I do not own Pretty Little Liars or the characters mentioned in this story. This story is a work of fiction.

 **Autumn** Part I:

Aria ran into the pub to avoid the rain.

She had only been back from Iceland for 2 weeks and was already resenting the move back to America. Junior Year would begin in a few days and she was anxious to face her past. Iceland had been the perfect escape after all that had happened, but things change and when Byron was offered a position at Hollis College, it was hard to say no.

Aria had been avoiding Rosewood ever since they moved back, instead opting to hang around Hollis helping her dad unpack his office and writing in her free time. The pub she was in now was your typical college pub, notorious for their lax ID policy and cheap drinks. She had been walking down main street when the first drops hit her cheek. Unable to make it back to Hollis, she ducked inside the pub to wait out the storm.

She looked around and was surprised to see it was somewhat empty. She took a seat at the bar and ordered a Guinness. She glanced around the bar some more just to make sure she wouldn't be recognized. There only seemed to a handful of other people there. There was a woman in her 50s, frazzled, looking at a huge pile of papers and sipping on a dark colored liquor. Probably a professor prepping for the semester. Then there was the group of girls sipping on glasses of cheap house wine and giggling. They seemed enthralled by the man sitting at the end of the bar, opposite her. He was wearing a light blue button up, which he was letting fall open, displaying some kind of graphic tee that Aria couldn't read. He had dark shaggy curls hanging in his face, which probably wasn't intentional. It seemed like he was due for a haircut. He was nursing the bottle of an IPA Aria didn't recognize.

She glanced back at the girls. They were whispering to each other and eyeing the man. She couldn't tell if they thought he was a cute stranger or a hottie they'd been eyeing a while. Either way, Aria smiled to herself, thinking back to a time where she and her friends would carelessly eye boys around town, making a spectacle of their chase. The boys chasing them, that is… Things were different now.

Aria leaned back on her stool to see if it was still raining. It appeared to be coming down even harder. The bartender was a younger guy, lanky with a shaved head and gauges in his ears. He plopped the glass down in front of her. She handed over a twenty dollar bill, careful as always not to leave a paper trail on her credit card. She glanced back through her raven mane to look the man at the end of the bar. The girls were getting louder, tipsy from the cheap wine. She saw a smirk crack the man's face hearing the flirtations coming from behind him.

She turned her attention back to her drink and took a sip. She hadn't been drinking much since her return to the states. She took another sip and let herself savor the taste. After a moment she reached inside her bag and pulled out her copy of "Against Everything: Essays" by Mark Greif. She'd been lazily reading it for a few weeks. She cracked open the binding to her last place and began reading while sipping on her Guinness.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she noticed she had gained a neighbor. With just a seat between them, the man from down the bar had made his way up. She could see his features clearer now. His hair was a deep black-brown hanging in his ice blue eyes. He was muscular, but not too much, and he has a jawline that could cut glass. He had just the slightest hint of stubble on his face, clearly groomed to look casual.

"That must be some book," he said, breaking the silence.

She blushed, wondering how long he had been sitting there.

"I hope you don't mind me joining you. I had to get away from the gaggle over there," nodding his head towards the group that had been ogling him earlier. They were shooting her dirty looks as they sipped their wine bitterly.

"Oh no, bother. You are…?" She asked, trying to play it cool.

"Ezra."

"Aria," she offered, gesturing to herself.

"So Aria, what is it you are reading that has kept you so focused in this storm?"

She folded the book closed and showed him the cover. He looked surprised.

"What?" she asked, a little embarrassed.

"No, it's just that pretty girls aren't usually reading in bars, let alone reading philosophic essays," he explained.

She blushed again. Aria knew she wasn't the typical teenage girl. She was much happier seeing a black and white at the repertory theater downtown than the new romcom or thriller. She enjoyed non-fiction over anything else. She had a taste for good wine after her time abroad and loved a man who knew what he was talking about.

"Yeah well, cute guys don't usually ask what I am reading."

"Maybe you're talking to the wrong guys."

The back and forth was effortless.

"So, do you go to Hollis?" she asked.

"I just graduated in the spring actually. I'll be starting a new teaching job soon"

He was educated and wanted to teach. He was attractive and clearly they were vibing.

"Yeah, I think I'd like to teach too," she said. That was the truth. She was starting to think she wanted to teach high school, maybe college in the future.

Her surroundings were hazy, from the alcohol or the guy she didn't know. A new song started playing in the background and sher recognized it immediately.

"I love this song," she whispered, not breaking their eye contact. They both had a small smile on on their faces. Enthralled.

"B26," he whispered back.

They sipped their drinks in silence and listened to the song, sneaking glances at each other the whole time.

The song ended and he asked her, "What do you think you want to teach? What are you majoring in?"

She was thrown off for a second, then remembered she was drinking underage in a bar. Of course he assumed she was in college.

Nervously she answered, "I am leaning towards English." The best non-answer she could give. It wasn't a lie. She _was_ leaning towards English.

His face lit up and he said, "That's what I will be teaching."

"I write too, but mostly just for myself," she added shyly.

"Impressive. I tried writing, but didn't get very far. When you write for yourself. That's passion. That's talent."

His eyes were clouded with intensity. She looked away, red in the face. He broke the tension by changing the subject.

"So. Aria. Tell me something else about you."

She looked over at him and offered, "I just got back from Europe."

"Where in Europe?" He asked excitedly.

"Iceland. I was living there actually."

"Again, I am impressed. It takes a strong person to uproot their life and move to a new country. I actually spent some time in Reykjavik, before I went to Amsterdam on study abroad." Hi smile was infectious.

"Amsterdam. I'm sure that was a purely academic decision, right?" she teased him.

He laughed and admitted the coffee shops may have been enticing. "It was actually the history and architecture that drew me there. I hoped it would inspire my writing."

"And did it?"

"No. I guess I just haven't found my muse yet," he said dreamily.

He looked down at his drink and swigged back the last of it before saying, "It's a great city."

The tension was clear. For a moment, her ex-boyfriend she'd left back in Iceland entered her mind. Kristof had been one of the first people she had met in Kópavogur after she had moved there. She was well aware the charm she carried being both new and American and had initially brushed him off, but after a few more tries on his end, she gave him a shot.

They dated on and off for the time she was in Iceland and got pretty serious the last 6 months of her stay, but she ultimately broke up with him when she left. He had begged her not to, but it was best not to string him along. She needed to cut that part of her life out. He had pressured her into drugs, alcohol, sex and other stuff she wasn't proud of. He was what she clung to in that new and foreign place.

She didn't want to be the person she was in Iceland, but she didn't want to be the person she was in Iceland either. This beautiful man in front of her didn't know either side of her and was looking at her like the person she wanted to be. A stray piece of hair fell in her face, but before she could push it aside his hand was grazing her cheek, doing it for her. The hairs on her arms stood up, electrified by his touch.

"You're smart. You've traveled. Great taste in music."

It was just a statement, but he seemed like he may say more. He paused for another second, took a deep breath in and said, "I'd like to know you more."

"Yeah, I'd like to know more about you too," she replied.

* * *

His hands travelled all over her body, igniting a fire inside of her. They stilled at her hips, gripping her tightly and pulling her closer to him. His fingers grazed over her porcelain skin, skimming up to her dark raven hair and clenched them there, anchoring her to him. He knew what he was doing to her. Each touch sent an electric shock to her core.

Her hands were frantically searching for something to pull him impossibly closer. She was sure he could feel her heart beating out of her chest. His lips were plush and warm against hers. They moved in sync, as if they had done this before. She pulled her hands away only to shrug off her leather jacket, revealing her bare shoulders. His lips moved away from hers, tracing her neck and shoulder blades.

She could feel his member pressing against her, making her shiver with anticipation. Kristof had never made her feel so wanted or alive. His hands were trailing up from her hips, one to her lower back, the other cupping her breast. She could feel his teeth nibbling at her neck, leaving their delicious mark on her skin. The throbbing at her core worsened and she let out a tiny moan. It was met with his lips, devouring the sound with ferocity.

His hands were pushing her skirt slowly up her thighs, closer and closer. She had never done anything remotely close to this. She was being reckless and dangerous and she didn't care. She wanted him more than she had ever wanted anything else in her life. She slipped her hands under the waistline of his jeans. She could feel his muscles clenching and relaxing in anticipation and she gently urged him on.

His hands were now at her panty line, dangerously close to slipping them off completely when there was a knock. They jerked apart, pulled from their lustful haze, panic in their eyes. The person knocked again and Ezra yelled just a minute. They pulled themselves together hastily, not saying a word. Aria looked in the mirror and saw her bruised neck and swollen lips and sighed. They hurried out of the bathroom, eyes on the floor, ignoring the gaping look from the man who had knocked.

They beelined for the door of the bar. Once outside, they stood there awkwardly, not making eye contact. They stood there idly for a minute before she said, "I should probably get home…"

It sounded lame as soon as she said it. She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm and twirled her back to him, leaving her breathless. Their eyes met for the first time since they left the bathroom.

"Uh, sorry…" Ezra said, dropping her arm.

"No, it's okay."

"I just uh…" he stammered.

"Yeah?"

"I just was going to ask for your number."

She felt a smile break out on her face and a blush creep up her neck. She held her hand out for his phone and typed in her number, adding a red heart emoji next to her name, before handing it back to him. He looked down at it and smiled.

"I'll be seeing you. Aria Montgomery."

They both smiled and he leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her cheek before walking away.

 **Author's Note:**

Thank you to everyone for reading. I am really excited about starting this story. If you want to read more please leave a comment and a suggestion!


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